Monday, December 29, 2008

When I was in my mid-teens, there was a particular experience that made a permanent impression on my heart. On occasion, something will remind me of what happened many years ago.

My Dad bought an insurance policy from a salesman I’ll call George. As it turned out, George was a successful salesman who had written many insurance policies. However, the policies were worthless. The premium payments were put into the pockets of George instead of the pockets of the insurance company. George was caught, arrested, tried, and convicted of insurance fraud. I never knew how much money Dad lost, but in the scheme of things, it really wasn’t very important.

My Dad was involved in a local prison ministry, taking his turn leading services for the men who attended. I don’t know how it happened, but I imagine that one day when Dad stood to speak, he noticed a specific inmate sitting among the others. It was George. And no, I don’t believe it was just a coincidence.

Some inmates were allowed passes, so Dad brought George to our home for Sunday dinners. I don’t know how often George ate with us. After a couple of visits, I didn’t think of him as a prisoner. He was a man who had wronged others. He was a man who enjoyed Sunday dinner with us. He was a man separated from his family. (Although his wife and daughter were local, no contact was permitted while George was with Dad.)

This is my favorite part of the story. George finished serving his sentence and was released from prison. While he was cleaning out his house preparing to move, he came across some papers. These weren’t just any papers. These were records of some of the people he had defrauded.

And whose name do you think he saw? Yes, it was Dad’s. Right about then, I would think he had a sinking feeling in his gut. More than likely, he was embarrassed, mortified, and ashamed. George probably had an extremely hard time facing Dad again. He must have had many questions, such as “why didn’t you tell me who you were?”, and “why did you let me have meals with your family?”, and “after what I did to you, how could you treat me with such kindness?, and “why?”, and “why?”.

Dad lived his faith in front of others.

What about me? Is there anything that my son remembers about me? Is there some word or some action or some feeling or some example or some attitude or some something?

Friday, November 7, 2008

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. (1 Peter 3:8 NIV)

Today was triple coupon day at the grocery store! Of course, I had to park very far away. In the parking lot, I didn’t hear rude car horns or fighting over empty spaces. I optimistically expected that. Were we breaking fire department maximum capacity codes? The aisles were congested with traffic, resulting in numerous traffic jams. I certainly expected that. The vast majority of shoppers were very kind and helpful. I witnessed patience and understanding towards one another. I reasonably expected that. We were all there for the same purpose. Sort of like ‘I hope you save as much as I save.’ I witnessed taller persons offering to reach items for shorter persons. (One of the shorter persons would be me.) One young lady offered her extra coupons to shoppers looking at the same product. (One of those shoppers would be me.) While making my way up and down the aisles, here and there I noticed coupons left on shelves for someone else’s use. For the most part, the shopping trip was an exercise in total politeness. Yes, I expected that too.

I was pleased of the savings. Total coupons tendered: $54.50. Total balance due: $49.11. That’s an 11% difference! You gotta love it!

One more thing.As I pushed my full cart thru the parking lot, I witnessed not one, but two persons independently trying to help a fellow shopper not feel so stupid.It seems like someone didn’t remember where they had parked.Oh, the one who had a lost car?That would be me.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

It won’t be long now. Soon I’ll be blessed with yet another treasure. A precious new life. A little boy this time. He and his big sister, the both of them, that’s two. Me? I’ll have two grandbabies! That’s a double dose of love, a double dose of joy, a double dose of blessings, a double dose of miracles.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Grandchildren are the crown of old men, And the glory of sons is their fathers.(Proverbs 17:6 NASV)

The little lady’s parents had to be away for a few days, so both sets of grandparents gladly shared time with her.

Her other proud grandparents (Grammy and Grampy) brought her to her other proud grandparents’ (Nana and Poppy) house. (Try saying that three times quickly.)

Anyway, just a few minutes (and I mean just a few minutes) after she arrived, she demonstrated the cognitive skills and memory recall and learning capabilities of a 16-month old little girl. Of course, she isn’t just any 16-month old little girl (I think her other grandparents would readily agree with that). She walked over to the sliding glass door, peered outside, and said, “Fish!” The last time she visited, I had taken her outside to feed the goldfish in my garden pond. (Granted it’s small, but it’s still a garden pond.) I was delighted! It had been a bit shy of two months since she last fed the fish. And she remembered!

By the way, when we went to the mall, Poppy found two different stuffed goldfish. The little lady chose the one she liked, and naturally, Poppy bought it for her.

This set of her proud grandparents returned the little lady to the waiting arms of her “we immensely missed you” parents.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.

And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 NIV

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a lesson from the butterfly

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

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What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Today has been such a wonderful “outside” day. I’ve always considered days like this a gift, especially in November. It’s still 70 degrees (well, 68 degrees now), and I’m loving it! I spiffed up my front flower bed a bit, and then piddled around in my back yard “secret garden”.

We have new neighbors next door. Lot’s of work has been going on over there. Today, there’s been steady hammer-work building a new deck. While I was in my backyard, I noticed how hungry I was getting. Even though someone very sweet fixed me a good Saturday morning breakfast, I kept getting even hungrier. I finally realized why. There was a radio playing next door, and I felt like I was in La Hacienda (one of my favorite restaurants).

Thursday, October 30, 2008

This week, I emptied hubby’s coffee can – his spare change coffee can. I dumped the coins into a gallon size Ziploc bag and put it on the scales. I put the 17 pounds of coins into a cloth tote bag and carried (sometimes dragging) my load into the friendly neighborhood financial institution. They have the neatest coin counting machine. And to think of all the coins I have counted and wrapped in the past. Anyway, about three quarters of the way thru, one section became full. After the nice lady cleared out more space, I finished feeding the coins. I could see the running total as I went, and I admit I was rather surprised. After the receipt printed, I took it to the counter for deposit. Here’s the breakdown:

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Several weeks ago, our plans for yesterday had been discussed and decided upon. Both hubby and I had agreed on where to eat breakfast and lunch. Okay, so it turned into brunch and linner (if brunch is between breakfast and lunch, it only makes sense that linner is between lunch and dinner). We wanted to spend a relaxing day, taking time to enjoy each minute.

(In another post, I’ll write about the beauty of this day. It deserves a post all by itself.)

We headed up the mountain to Boone, home of the Appalachian Mountaineers. We thoroughly enjoyed a scrumptious brunch (with great coffee) at our favorite breakfast place, the Mountain House. They serve the best pancakes this side of the Mississippi. Honestly.

Traffic around town was heavier than normal, especially around the campus of AppState. We soon realized it was homecoming weekend and the Mountaineers were up against the Citadel (in a sold out game). No problem, App St 47, Citadel 21. (FYI - The Mountaineer football team brought home the 2005, 2006 and 2007 NCAA Div I FCS National Championships. That’s three in a row!)

We knew beforehand that ‘Art in the Park’ was being held in Blowing Rock. We’ve gone to several of these and enjoy looking thru the wide array of handmade crafts. The large number of displays included paintings, pottery, woodworking, jewelry, knitted items, and the like. This year, we didn’t buy a thing.

However, we did buy several items at the Tanger/Shoppes on the Parkway, also in Blowing Rock. Of the large number of outlet stores, there are a few I cannot resist taking a look inside. I like that excuse - when I buy something, it really isn’t my fault.

Blowing Rock is also the home of The Woodlands Barbecue Restaurant, the ‘Main Attraction’. We ate ‘linner’ there, seeing as we are required to eat there many times each year. Okay, maybe more than many times. We also have an obligation to buy a minimum of two pounds of Q-to-go per visit. In fact, we’re so committed to Woodlands take-out, we come prepared. Each time we head up the mountain, we’re packing a cooler.

Regardless of the many reasons for the trip, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that hubby’s stash of frozen barbeque had dwindled away. That was the deciding factor. Every other good thing up the mountain was icing on the cake.

With gas prices high and availability low, we wanted this trip to accomplish as many of our have to’s, love to’s, want to’s, like to’s, and must to’s. Yep, this trip was well justified.